Partition using fdisk

[RJ]

I'm going to format my hard drive and install XP. Can I use the fdisk
command to partition it? Any suggestions on the number of partitions etc and
on which partition to put XP?

 

[Malke]

I'm going to format my hard drive and install XP. Can I use the fdisk
command to partition it? Any suggestions on the number of partitions
etc and on which partition to put XP?

No. Use the partitioning built into the installation routine. Here is a
link to help you:

http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

Malke

 

[Tim Slattery]

I'm going to format my hard drive and install XP. Can I use the fdisk
command to partition it? Any suggestions on the number of partitions etc and
on which partition to put XP?

If you boot from the XP CD, you will have the option to partition your
disk as you see fit.

As to how many partitions, etc: you will get a different answer from
each person you ask. Smaller partitions take less time to scan and
defrag , larger partitions mean that you have a better chance of
remembering which partition that file is on.

NTFS can handle partitions of nearly any size quite well, so it really
comes do your personal taste.

 

[Ken Blake]

In

I'm going to format my hard drive and install XP. Can I use the
fdisk
command to partition it?

Partition it as part of the installation process. FDISK isn't
needed (and doesn't permit NTFS).

Just boot from the Windows XP CD (change the BIOS boot order if
necessary to accomplish this) and follow the prompts for a clean
installation (delete the existing partition by pressing "D" when
prompted, then create a new one).
You can find detailed instructions here:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm

or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm

Any suggestions on the number of partitions
etc and on which partition to put XP?

How big is your drive?

 

[Donald L McDaniel]

I'm going to format my hard drive and install XP. Can I use the fdisk
command to partition it? Any suggestions on the number of partitions etc and
on which partition to put XP?

I would only use the Windows 9x versions of fdisk/format IF you have a
large HD (larger than 32gig) AND you want a FAT32 partition greater
than 32gig. The reason for this is that the XP installer will not
create a FAT32 partition that is greater than 32gig.

If you format your HD as FAT32, you will have to use "convert" from
within XP if you want to later change to NTFS without losing any data
(and there is still a faint possibility of losing data when you
"convert" to NTFS).

Your best bet if your HD is larger than 32gig is to partition and
format to NTFS from the XP installer.

Donald L McDaniel
Please reply to the original thread.
If you must reply via email, remove the obvious
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=======================================================

 

[Lil' Dave]

There's no reason to use fdisk for partitioning. There's no reason to use
FAT32 if no other OS will be accessing any 2nd, 3rd, 4th partitions. Remove
all partitions using the XP installer, and use the NTFS option for
installing the OS partition. The remaining space can be partitioned and
formatted more quickly within the XP OS environment.

26GB seems adequate sized partition for XP and some decent-size apps.

How many and the size of partitions in the remaining space is a personal
preference governed by your uses and the amount of space left. No idea of
your intended usage. You left the latter to guessing as you never stated
the capacity of the hard drive you intend to partition and format.

 

[mxh]

If you boot from the XP CD, you will have the option to partition your
disk as you see fit.

As to how many partitions, etc: you will get a different answer from
each person you ask. Smaller partitions take less time to scan and
defrag ,

larger partitions mean that you have a better chance of
remembering which partition that file is on.

I have to disagree. If one is using smaller partitions wisely, one can be
much more organized and finding files is made easier. ie, data on the data
drive, programs on the program drive, storage & install files...you get the
idea. Not to mention that such designated partitions will have less files to
wade through.

mxh

 

[Alan Smith]

I have to disagree. If one is using smaller partitions wisely, one can be
much more organized and finding files is made easier. ie, data on the data
drive, programs on the program drive, storage & install files...you get
the idea. Not to mention that such designated partitions will have less
files to wade through.

mxh

And defragmenting is a lot quicker.